(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a welding striker apparatus having a dimple, the apparatus being useful in arc welding to clean a "sugared" welding rod.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Arc welding uses a pair of electrodes, the workpiece being one and the welding rod being the other. The heat from the electric arc between the electrodes is used melt metal from the rod to be fused into the joint to be welded. The welding rod is usually coated with flux. Particularly in low hydrogen rods, such as those designated as 7018 or 9018 rods, the flux is brittle. When the welding rod breaks, the end "sugars" and it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to re-strike the sugared rod without breaking the flux off. Typically, because of the trouble and low success rate, the welder simply discards a sugared rod, rather than fool with trying to scratch off the sugared portion and re-strike the rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,348, to Johnson, teaches a welder's glove 2 having a strike-plate surface 26 on the glove back hand portion 6 so that the welder can strike the tip 28 of a welding rod 30 on the strike-plate surface 26 to remove re-fused flux on the rod tip 28.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,136, to Cooper, teaches a single combination tool for gas welders including a marking soapstone, a flint-striker igniter, and a holder for torch cleaning wires.
The inventor has seen a stand-alone cube-shaped device, shaped like a chalk for a pool cue tip or a pencil sharpener, which has openings in two opposed sides, the openings being to roughened interior surfaces which can receive a sugared welding rod.